Ryanair and Dr Martens message updates, index seen reduced

07:38, Graeme Evans

Dr Martens has actually been improved by an enhancement in trading in the United States.

Sales for the 3rd quarter increased 3% on a continuous money basis, consisting of a 4% uplift for its direct-to-consumer network in the Americas.

Trading in the European, Middle East and Africa department was influenced by the “deep promotional nature of several markets, especially in December”.

Overall, trading in the quarter remained in line with assumptions while the overview for the fiscal year is unmodified.

Chief exec Ije Nwokorie claimed: “We have made good progress against our objective of turning around our USA performance, with USA direct-to-consumer in positive growth in Q3.

“We continue to actively manage our costs and are on track to meet our inventory reduction target for 2025. The team and I are squarely focused on returning the business to sustainable and profitable growth.”

07:28 , Graeme Evans

Ryanair today offset a big jump in third quarter profits by scaling back its forecast for passenger traffic in the next financial year.

The low-cost airline blamed further Boeing delivery delays for trimming its traffic target for the 2025/26 financial year to “just 3% growth”.

The new estimate of 206 million passengers compared with 210 million previously.

Traffic grew 9% to 45 million in the third quarter to 31 December, leading to a current year forecast of 9% to almost 200 million.

Fares were marginally stronger than the prior year as the Dublin-based carrier reported a big jump in profits to 149 million euros from 15 million euros.

07:08 , Graeme Evans

A positive week for US markets finished on a downbeat note on Friday, with the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.3%.

The FTSE 100 index lost 0.7% and is forecast to open about 73 points lower at 8430 this morning.

Major events this week include Wednesday’s US Federal Reserve decision, when the outlook for rate cuts in 2025 will be in focus.

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